July/August 2007

Issue 271

In the coastal lowlands of the Colombian department of Nariño, oil palm plantations are spreading through historically Afro-Colombian lands. The Colombian government, with the help of USAID, is promoting the expansion as a way of resettling members of right-wing paramilitary groups. Afro-Colombian activists who get in the way pay a price in blood. Read more »

President Bush has announced a misleading plan to "double" spending on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): from $15 billion in total from 2004-2008 to $30 billion from 2009-2013. Bush's simple math tells a complex lie. Read more »

People in prison tend to start with lower educational levels than the general population, and spending time behind bars generally makes matters worse. Because schooling is a major factor in earnings potential, the incarcerated are being left farther and farther behind. Read more »

The movement against corporate globalization is serious about clowning around. "The Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army" led some of the incursions in the most recent globalization battle, which took place in June at the Group of Eight (G-8) summit meeting in northern Germany. Read more »

Available only in the print edition of Dollars & Sense:

features

Bumpy Landing

By John Miller

Much of the economics profession seems to think that
Fed chair Ben Bernanke will be able to pull off
a "soft landing" for the U.S. economy. But the landing, no matter how soft it may
feel to the passengers in first class, will be a bumpy one
for those in the economy seats. In February,
Bernanke took the unusual step of calling
upon policymakers to put in place "some limits on the
downside risks to individuals" to protect the dynamism
essential for economic progress. But his monetary
policy will likely do just the opposite. | Order this issue or subscribe.

The Social Costs of Neoliberalism in China

Interview with Han Deqiang.

Han Deqiang is a prolific economist at the Economics
and Management School, Beijing University
of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and one of a
growing number of Chinese scholars critical of
the country's neoliberal development strategy. Han, however,
did not just arrive at this stance. He has been critical
of neoliberal ideology in China for almost two decades
and has written many books and articles on the social crises
that rural and urban workers have faced under China’s
new economic regime. It would not be wrong to characterize him as a Chinese Noam
Chomsky, albeit with his own oratorical flair. | Order this issue or subscribe.